Coming off a disappointing overtime loss at home to Duke, North Carolina hits the road to face Wake Forest on Tuesday night for an 8 pm game at Joel Coliseum.

The Tar Heels have dropped three consecutive games for the third time this season, though the previous streaks reached four and five games. The Tar Heels’ last four losses have been by a total of 11 points, two of which were overtime games, so they’ve been competitive.

UNC is 10-13 overall and 3-9 in the ACC while the Demon Deacons have lost eight of their last 10 contests and stand at 10-13 overall and 3-10 in the league.

Here are 3 Keys for UNC to defeat Wake Forest:

The Tar Heels will not win Tuesday if they do not completely cut the cord to Saturday’s loss and walk into Joel Coliseum with a fresh and clear mindset. This team has such little room for error, allowing any of that junk to clutter their focus would be highly damaging, and Wake is good enough, by comparison, to take advantage.

Part of cutting the cord if also respecting the Demon Deacons. Wake isn’t very good, but neither is UNC, and if you look at their NCAA stat rankings across the board and the KenPom efficiency numbers, these teams are even. So being ready and not anchored in the past is the number one key for the Tar Heels.

Wake must be thinking this is a great chance to knock off UNC, the best it’s had in a while, so you can be absolutely certain the Deacs will be ready to go. The building likely won’t be full, but the Wake faithful will also have more hope for a win over the Heels than any time in recent history so those that are there may be loud. So, it’s important for UNC to get off to a quick start.

Get and hit some early shots, but also make some impressive defensive stops, show some energy and let Wake know they’re there to win. So much of what UNC does is mental, so being on the same page and playing with intensity and focus will send a message to the Deacs and galvanize the Tar Heels.

Statistically, these teams are nearly identical in so many ways. Neither score a ton of points, both are bad shooting teams, not great but not horrible on defense (UNC grades out a bit higher), turnover margin, UNC has a better rebound margin – No. 6 versus No. 81 – but Wake shoots from the perimeter considerably better – No. 180 at 33.3 percent to No. 329 at 29.5 percent.

The KenPom adjusted efficiency ratings: UNC offense is No. 122, Wake’s is No. 77, and UNC’s defense is No. 73 and Wake’s is No. 136. So there is a bit of a difference there, but not by a huge degree.

The bottom line is neither team has been all that good, so the winner Tuesday will be the one that is better. Sounds simple, yes, but it is. Play better, be better and win the game. That should be UNC’s mantra.